Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit / A Guide for Those Who Wish to Prepare and Mount Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, etc., for Home, Den, or Office Decoration

by Albert Burton Farnham

CHAPTER XVII.

MOUNTING HEADS OF LARGE GAME.

Mounting heads, of horned game especially, is a branch of taxidermy which suffers no diminution in popularity. Such work is turned out at the present time in far better shape than it was years ago, but many fine heads still remain that were gathered in days of abundance of buffalo, elk and mountain sheep.

In skinning horned heads never open the skin up the front of the neck; not only are such seams difficult to hide but the skull with antlers cannot be entirely removed from the skin as it should be.

To do this open the skin down the center of the back of the neck from just back of the horns to the shoulders or at least half that distance. A neck of medium length is preferable and many a fine head has been ruined by being cut off just back of the ears.

Connect the upper end of the opening cut with the base of each horn or antler by a short branch making the whole opening of a Y or T shape. Turn the neck skin inside out down over the head, which in case of a deer may rest on the antlers, until the ears are reached, cut these off not too close to the head and the horns are next met with.

Work the skin from around the base of these with a dull knife or a small screwdriver blade. With the same tool pry the thick skin away from the frontal bone. When the eyes are reached have a care not to cut their lids, working closer to the bone than the skin. Use the screwdriver again to scoop up the skin from the so-called tear pits in front of the eyes.

Let all the dark colored skin on the inside of the lips remain attached to them. The skin of the neck is the thickest on the whole animal and must be reduced by shaving. The skin of the whole head and neck should not only be freed from all flesh and muscle but shaved to about one-half its original thickness. For this purpose work on it with a sharp knife or draw shave on a half rounded beam.

Split the lips and remove their fleshy interior, split the nose cartilage and separate it from the outer skin. With some blunt tool pry the skin of the back of the ear from the cartilage and turn the ears wrong side out to their tips. Give the scalp at least 24 hours' pickling or it will be liable to excessive shrinkage on drying.

Many a fine head mounted green, without thinning or pickling, has shrunk and continued to shrink for months, until all stitches gave way and it cracked and shriveled to an inglorious end. If a paper head form is to be used, the top of the skull at the base of the antlers is sawn off and the balance of the skull discarded, the more common method will require the cleaning of the skull with antlers remaining on it. A little boiling will expedite this and by chopping an opening (1½ inches wide in case of a deer) into the lower part of the brain cavity the brain is removed. This opening will also receive the end of a wooden neck standard of plank three inches wide.

A nail through the top of skull will hold it temporarily till the lower jaw bones are placed and the whole held solid by packing the base of skull and jaws in a mass of soft plaster which will harden in a few minutes. This neck standard should be at right angles to the greatest length of the head.

Measuring the neck skin where cut off gives the circumference of an egg-shaped board, representing a cross section of the neck at that point in a vertical line. The neck standard is sawed off at the proper place and angle and made fast to the board by nails and screws. With a very short neck it will be necessary to depress the nose considerably that the antlers may not come in contact with the wall. This should all be calculated before fixing the skull permanently on the neck standard. The standard can be held in the vise and a little measuring will indicate the point of attachment and angle needed to clear the wall.

Now wind excelsior on the neck standard and skull until the skinned head and neck are roughly reproduced. Try the skin on occasionally to guide in this.

Do not put any excelsior on the upper part of the skull and face as no amount of flesh was removed there. Give the cheeks a natural fullness and remember the neck was not round like a stove pipe. By sewing from side to side the shape of the gullet and wind pipe can be molded. When the skin is still not quite filled give the head and neck a coating of potter's (or modelling) clay and then several coats of well pasted paper as directed for covering manikins for large animals.

When this has completely dried out remove skin from pickle, clean and poison it and after placing the ear forms it will be ready to cover the head and neck. I prefer good cardboard forms for the ears though some use only metal. Lead is too clumsy and heavy, copper and wire cloth corrode, pure sheet tin works nicely but is expensive.

The form should receive a couple coats of liquid glue before the skin is put on to stay. Fasten the skin in front of the eyes with a brad and draw into place about the base of the antlers. Use a heavy needle and waxed linen cord for this sewing. Heavy gilling twine doubled will do.

Sew up from first one and then the other antler to the central cut down the back of the neck, tie the threads together and continue sewing down the neck. Get the skin on face and around mouth placed, then draw the neck skin tight and nail to the edge of the board with finishing brads an inch or more long. Any surplus remaining can be trimmed away. A square of rough board, screwed on the end of the neck, will enable it to stand on the bench with nose up while the final touches are put on the anatomy of the head and face.

The split lips filled with a little clay are placed and will usually stay without pinning if the lower lips are tucked under where they belong. Fill the end of the nose and around the nostrils nicely, no live deer ever had a shriveled up nose. Fill under the eyebrows as the skin there was quite thick before paring. Set the eyes, after filling sockets with clay. A little work with a sharp awl will put the lids in place with lashes disposed aright. If the ears have not been permanently fixed, do so now filling out their bases with stuffers and thrusting stout wires into the head to keep them set until dry. A few stitches are taken to hold the skin of both sides of the ears together, when dry they are removed. Brush the hair down and if it persists in rough spots, paste them and then smooth down. When dry the comb and brush will remove the scales of paste readily along with any dirt from the hair. When dry clean the antlers and oil them lightly, brush out the hair and clean all clay from eyes and nose. Connect the eyes and lids with black wax, model the inside of nostrils with cream or pink wax and varnish the end of nose and any bare lip that may show. Pins and brads that will show are drawn out and others cut off level with the skin. The head which has hung drying on the rough board may be removed to a finished shield as complete.

The paper form method has numerous advantages but is not always convenient to procure. It will save the beginner much tedious work and greatly expedite matters for the professional. These forms as supplied by dealers are of the entire head and neck. By cutting off the neck at the proper point, nailing in the neck board and screwing the plate of bone at the base of the antlers to a block in the top of head it is ready to receive the skin. It will require but a short time for the skin to dry on this foundation so the finished head is often ready to return at the end of a week.

For a number of years I have used a modification of this process. In this the form is cast in halves which are joined on a board cut to the outline of the head and neck. This will afford a secure attachment for the antlers and in addition the skin of the neck may be nailed securely each side of the opening cut, making any ripping or opening by shrinkage at that point forever impossible.

These paper forms may be bought or made in various sizes, so by the addition of a small amount of some modelling material any skin is fitted. With a supply of them on hand work can be turned out rapidly during the busy season.

These directions for mounting will apply equally in case of moose, elk or other large game heads, always providing supports adequate for the larger animals. A mounted head with insufficient and wabbly mechanical construction is not a joy forever.

The head of a common sheep or ram is a good one for the beginner, as its coat of wool covers small defects. It is a convenient size to handle and if not entirely successful no great expense has been incurred. On the other hand a fairly mounted ram's head is quite ornamental and suitable, especially on the wall of a country house.